


Wedding Night/Post-Trauma

by SparkleTindi



Category: Dragon Age: Inquisition, Dragon Age: Inquisition- Trespasser
Genre: F/M, Major Spoilers for Trespasser DLC, comments and criticism always welcome!, no gore but violence warning is because isaura is quite injured, smutty smut smut
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-11-10
Updated: 2015-11-10
Packaged: 2018-04-30 23:13:12
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 2
Words: 12,212
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5183258
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SparkleTindi/pseuds/SparkleTindi
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The titles kind of sum these up. The first is Cullen and Isaura's wedding night, and mostly fluffy smut. Actually, come to think of it, it's ENTIRELY fluffy smut. So, y'know. Explicit for a reason.</p><p>The second is considerably more serious and happens when Isaura returns from her final confrontation. And also still a lot of fluffy smut.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Wedding Night

**Author's Note:**

> PLEASE offer suggestions or comments if you have 'em! It's the only way I'll get better. I should be NaNo-ing, and I was going to save posting these until December because I should be NaNo-ing, but I had to get them out. I actually wrote them both back in September/early October, immediately after finishing the Trespasser DLC.
> 
> ...when I say "suggestions" feel free to offer criticism about the smut, too. I'm not shy about it or I wouldn't be posting it on the internet!

"This isn't the way to my rooms," Isaura teased as Cullen led her through the halls of the Winter Palace. "Or yours. Where are we going?"

Cullen chuckled. "With everything so tense, I could hardly sneak into the Inquisitor's bedchamber without causing more problems for Josephine. Besides, just for tonight, you are not the Inquisitor, and I am not the Commander of your armies who is reaching above his station." He kissed her before she could protest that last part. "For tonight, I am just Cullen, you are just Isaura, and it is our wedding night." He found the door he was looking for and took out a key.

"Where did you get that?" Isaura asked.

"Charter found us the room and... ‘obtained’...the key." Unlocking the door, he added, "I don't know how fancy it will be; I just said I wanted an unoccupied bedroom out of the... way." He stopped and stared for a minute.

"What?" Isaura, who was behind him, couldn't see into the room. Cullen smiled at her and took her hand, tugging her into their new room. "Oh, my," Isaura said, looking around.

“Room” was incorrect; even from the doorway, Isaura could see that, in addition to the promised bedroom, all the way in the back, there was a parlor in the front and a bathroom to the left. A sofa and a pair of armchairs that all looked decadently comfortable were drawn around a low table, with a fireplace crackling happily in the corner of the parlor.

This was really pretty low-key for the Winter Palace; what left the newlyweds speechless were the additions to the décor: The table had a bowl of strawberries and a bottle of champagne in a bucket along with two flutes, and a bouquet of deep red roses decorated the mantelpiece above the fireplace.

Taking a few steps in to look around more thoroughly, Isaura saw the open, frosted glass door that led to the bathroom. All she could see from this angle was a sunken tub, full of floating candles and rose petals. “This must be our wedding present from Charter and the others,” the Inquisitor said, voice soft. “Good to know they approve, isn’t it?” She turned to face him. "You are wearing far too much clothing, my husband."

He kissed her deeply, his arms wrapped around her. "I love that word on your lips," he murmured, nibbling said lips. "Far be it for me to deny my beloved wife anything," he added, undoing the sash that held his dress uniform together. Isaura moved his hands and unbuttoned the coat herself, kissing him as she did. "You seem rather overdressed as well, my wife."

"Yes, but you're wearing layers and I am not, so at least let me get a head start," she teased, dropping his coat on the floor and undoing his belt.

Cullen laughed and pulled a hairpin out of her tightly braided red hair. A thick, wavy lock fell against Isaura’s back, the red hair and white dress framing her dark skin enticingly. "Tell you what: I'll give you until I have removed every single pin from your hair, but then your clothes are fair game." After almost three years as lovers, he knew where even the hidden hairpins were, but he took his time, unbinding each strand of hair and letting it fall; Isaura in her wedding dress was a sight he knew he would hold in his heart forever. Isaura in her wedding dress, hair half down and eyes heated with lust went far beyond that. Both of them took frequent pauses in the undressing to kiss, to touch; with so much in their world that was uncertain right now, every instant was to be savored.

Isaura’s hair was unbound, flowing freely down her shoulders, even curlier than usual after being held up all day. Instead of taking out the last pins, he moved her hair and kissed her bare shoulder as she stood again, having just taken off his smallclothes. Cullen loved his wife’s hair; she didn’t leave it down unless he asked her to, and they rarely had the leisure for her to keep it that way. “I win,” she said softly, kissing her husband’s bare chest. “I still have three hairpins left.”

“You do,” he agreed, and pulled all three. “There’s no rush, love. We have all night.”

“I love you, Cullen,” she said, helping him get her out of the beautiful white dress. “What took you so long to ask me? Oh, don’t tell me: you were afraid I’d say no? Really?”

“Well, how was I supposed to know it was more than just…” Cullen sighed. “Let me start over. I love you too, Isaura. It took me so long to ask you for a couple of reasons. First of all, even if _you_ don’t think I’m overreaching myself, everyone else does. Secondly, it would have undermined your authority as the Inquisitor; I don’t _ever_ want people to think that you haven’t earned every bit of power you have.”

“And now?” Isaura asked gently. “Why did you finally ask? And here, of all places?”

“I was going to ask you before we left, but there wasn’t time,” he admitted. “And I asked you here because when I saw you on the balcony after Duchess Florianne’s failed assassination attempt, I realized I couldn’t live without you. I saw you today in the courtyard, looking at me and that daft dog… and I realized it was time.”

“The ball was almost three years ago,” Isaura said, still gentle. “Cullen, I would have said yes right then if you’d asked me. I’ve loved you forever.”

He laughed softly and pulled her into his arms. “I know that _now_ , my heart. It’s a good thing I didn’t ask then, anyway. Our marriage is going to cause enough talk even now; if we’d gotten married at the start of the Inquisition, the scandal might have destroyed it.” He grinned and added, “I’ve learned _something_ from Josephine, I hope. Just because I don’t bother with diplomacy doesn’t mean I don’t have some idea of what I’m doing.”

Isaura sighed. “I shouldn’t be interrogating you on our wedding night,” she said, bringing him down for a kiss. “This night will be over too quickly as it is.”

Cullen smiled and removed his wife's undergarments. "Agreed." To Isaura's delight, he lifted her up and carried her into the bedroom. “The nights together never are long enough, my heart. If I had what I really wanted, we would have at least a week of uninterrupted time together. Perhaps we'll take the time when this blasted Council is over."

"I would like that," Isaura said. "Maybe we can travel; I would like to see somewhere that isn't in a state of crisis for a change." Cullen set her down on the bed, joining her and pulling her back into his arms. He kissed her and slid practiced fingers down her body, touching her so lightly that he raised goosebumps along the path his fingertips traced.

In return, Isaura's hands were firm, palms caressing the hard lines of his chest and stomach. She was the first one to venture lower, stroking Cullen's thighs and coming ever closer to his fully erect penis. "Oh, but you said there was no hurry," she murmured and made as if to move her hands away from him.

Cullen growled softly and grabbed her hands. "Where do you think you're going?" he asked, pulling them back. "I don't believe you're finished, beloved."

Isaura laughed, low in her throat. "Apparently not," she said and stroked his cock, smiling as Cullen's hips rose with her movements. She used both hands, alternating them up and down on his erection, but not keeping to any kind of rhythm.

"Isaura," Cullen moaned as she dipped her head momentarily to suck his cockhead. "Oh, my sweet love." His hands were buried in her hair now, but he didn't try to rush her.

"Hmm?" Isaura said, mouth wrapped around Cullen's shaft. The vibration of her voice made him moan again, and his hips rose once more. They bucked as she laughed, mouth still on him.

There was a little resistance as she worked her way down, but it wasn't long before he rose up and found himself enveloped by his wife's mouth, his cockhead brushing the very back of her throat. Her hands were still stroking, one on the base of his cock as it emerged from her mouth, and the other cupping his balls. "Isaura," he groaned. "I want to be… ah!" he cried out as he felt her throat working his cockhead. The sensation made him come, and he held onto her head as he arched one last time while she drank him down, coaxing additional pulses out of him as he felt her swallowing.

As he came back down, she pulled her mouth off of him, but not before sliding the tip of her tongue in to make sure she'd gotten all of his spend. "You were saying something, _'ma'lath_?" Isaura said, words a bit unclear as she wiped her wet lips off with a smile.

"I love you," he breathed, pulling her close again. "You spoil me, sweetheart."

The elf smiled. "I love you too, and I enjoyed that as much as you did, I promise you." She stretched against him. "We do have a problem, _‘ma’sa’lath_. I'm not sure how long I feel like waiting for you to be ready again."

Cullen laughed. "You should have thought of that before you put your wicked mouth on me," he teased. "I may take a nap now."

Isaura snorted and stretched again, slowly, and Cullen felt every inch of the skin against his, and the muscles beneath. "Oh, really?" she purred. "I think I can keep you awake." She sighed as he just lay there, watching her with half-closed eyes. “This is rather unfair, Cullen. It is my wedding night as well, you know.”

“It is, but we do have all night,” was his grinning reply. “I feel quite certain that I can outlast you, dear.”

“Well, yes, because I just took care of you,” Isaura pouted, and he chuckled, running teasing fingers up her side to her breast. “See if I’m so nice next time.”

Cullen sighed and sat up carefully, keeping his wife in his lap, where he had easy access to her breasts, which he kissed and licked, sucking on the left one hard enough to leave a mark. “Have I told you how wonderful you taste, beloved?” he murmured, pulling her nipples erect with his teeth as Isaura moaned and buried her hands in his hair.

“You hadn’t yet today,” she replied with a grin, and then, “Oh, Cullen,” as he rubbed his fingers in the curly red hair between her legs. He found her clit and stroked it lightly. Isaura moaned and arched into his hands, so Cullen took the invitation and slid two fingers inside, making her cry out. He kept his other hand on her little nub, stroking it gently.

Isaura, thighs clenching, rode her husband's fingers as he curved them to stroke the most sensitive parts of her inner walls. For his part, Cullen was enjoying watching his wife's face as she fucked herself on his hands. Feeling her muscles gripping his fingers, he responded by adding a third digit, making Isaura buck against him as she started to climax. She wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him hard as she came, shaking.

Cullen chuckled as his wife came back down, pulling his fingers out slowly just to watch her tremble. “I wanted to taste you, my heart, but you were having so much fun that I didn’t want to stop,” he said. Then he gave her the wicked grin that had first completely stolen her heart all the way back in Haven. “Oh, wait.” Isaura shivered as he licked his fingers off. “There we go.” He kissed her gently. “Better?”

Isaura laughed. “Better, and thank you. Had you stopped, you would have been in trouble.”

She thought he was going to remind her that they had all night, but instead Cullen said, “We have the rest of our lives to be together, Isaura. I can discover new and exciting ways to make you happy.”

The mage’s eyes filled up with tears and she threw her arms around his neck again. “Yes, we do,” she said between kisses. “As soon as we sort out the Exalted Council, you and I are taking a vacation. I don’t care where we go; I just want to be somewhere where I can have you all to myself for at least a week, maybe more.”

“I agree,” he replied, holding her in his arms.  “Just to save time, we’ll just tell Harding we’re going on our honeymoon, and she’ll take care of it.”

Isaura laughed. “You’re assuming we’ll still have Harding; I would think she’d want to go home at some point. She hasn’t actually _seen_ her family since before Haven.”

“That’s true of a lot of us, really.” Cullen kissed his wife. “You’re thinking of disbanding, aren’t you?”

“Well, if it comes right down to it, I would really rather disband than come under the jurisdiction of Orlais,” Isaura said, and then shivered. “It’s cold,” she explained. Her husband laughed and pulled her down, covering them both with the blankets. “Mmm, beautiful naked man in my bed, and he’s _all mine_ ,” Isaura said.

“I’m sorry, dearest. Am I distracting you?” Cullen asked with a laugh. “We were having a serious conversation.”

“I can appreciate the view and have a serious conversation at the same time,” Isaura replied, and then kissed Cullen’s chest. “Am I distracting _you_ , _‘ma’sa’lath_?”

“Always,” he murmured, kissing her forehead. “What do you want to do if you do decide the Inquisition is finished? We need to go home to Ferelden first, regardless; if I put it off one more time, Mia will have us both killed.”

“Just you,” his wife corrected. “She likes me.” She sighed dramatically. “I _suppose_ I should protect you, since I’m not nearly through with you yet.”

“I would hope not!” he laughed. “So. Ferelden, and then what?”

“I have no idea,” the elf admitted. “Maybe we can just wander for a while. There’s still so much that I haven’t seen, and it can’t _all_ be trying to kill us.”

Cullen chuckled and kissed her again. “I would like that; we never really got the chance to go anywhere together, did we?”

“Well, there’s that whole ‘everyone thinks you’re overreaching’ thing again,” Isaura said dryly. “Which is deeply insulting to both of us, since it suggests that I’m easily swayed by my libido and that you’d try to do the swaying in the first place.”

Cullen laughed. “Well, you’ve obviously convinced me, Isaura, or we wouldn’t be here.” He kissed her and added, “If anything, you’ve seduced me into taking better care of myself, and who could argue with that?”

Isaura laughed as well. “Sorry, _‘ma’lath_. I’m just tired of listening to it.”

“Well, you get to listen to it for a while yet,” he sighed, kissing her again. “Finish up this damn Council business, and then we’ll go home and let Josie plan a proper wedding.”

“If you think she isn’t already, and hasn’t been for at _least_ two years, you don’t know Josephine Montiliyet,” Isaura replied. "All we have to do is tell her when we want to do it and show up when and where she tells us to."

Cullen laughed. "You have a point." He added, stroking Isaura's face, "I am looking forward to letting everyone in Thedas know how much I love you. I don't mind keeping it quiet for now, but the moment we get home, I plan on posting an announcement on the door to the Great Hall. Perhaps I'll ask the bard to write something."

Isaura laughed and kissed her husband. "You never have been terribly shy about showing your affection, _’ma’sa’lath_."

"If you hadn't noticed, I'm rather direct about most things," Cullen said with a soft kiss on her face. "The most beautiful woman in Thedas told me that she finds it attractive."

"You only call me that because you're married to me," Isaura teased. Then she slid an inquisitive hand down between their snuggled up bodies. "Hmm," she said with a wicked laugh. "I feel something poking me, Cullen. Whatever could it be?"

Cullen rolled suddenly, pulling his wife underneath his body. "Would you like to find out?" he said in a low growl, kissing her until she was breathless. "Maker's breath, Isaura. How did I get so lucky?"

She would have laughed, but his mouth was on her throat, working its way up, and she was too busy trying to catch her breath to tease her husband. He slid his tongue along her jaw, chuckling at the soft noise she made when he nipped her earlobe. "You do things like that to me," the elf said, answering his question. "That's not luck, _'ma’lath_ ; that's talent."

Cullen laughed and sat up so he could use his hands on his wife's gorgeous body. He ran his hands up and down, enjoying the goosebumps he was giving her. Isaura was far from passive, sliding her own hands up his thighs. “Let’s see what other talents I have,” he said, and pulled her legs over his, thrusting into her in the same smooth motion.

Isaura cried out, wrapping her legs around his hips and drawing him in further. He braced his hands on either side of her and started thrusting in earnest, watching her face until her eyes rolled back. Having found his mark, he slowed down his return, going in fast, but dragging his cock back out of her and making her start shaking. Isaura moaned something in elvish, and then, “Harder, please, Cullen.”

He kept to the slow return until she unwrapped her legs and braced her feet under him, using her own hips to speed him up. “So impatient, my heart,” he managed, and then hit her with three hard thrusts in quick succession, making her legs wrap around him again and the rest of her body arch. “I’m not going anywhere, Isaura.”

“I have wanted you inside me all day,” she replied with a moan as he did it again. Then she lost coherence as she started to climax, her words making him keep up the hard, fast pace until she cried out and her entire body tightened around him.

He cried out as well, thrusting twice more and then lifting her body as he came. She felt her husband’s seed pouring into her and moaned again, reaching for him. Cullen collapsed onto his forearms, letting Isaura wrap her arms around his neck. Kissing her, he said, “All day?”

“You know how possessive I get when you’ve got all those silly girls hanging on your every word,” she replied with a soft laugh, kissing him and smoothing back his hair. “I can’t say anything right now; the political situation is too delicate.” She rolled her eyes, showing him what she thought of _that_. “Damn Orlesians.”

“The Fereldans are involved too, my heart,” he pointed out with a laugh, licking the sweat off of her collarbone just to watch her shiver.

“Yes, but the Fereldan girls generally take no for an answer, particularly when I back it up. Can’t really blame the Fereldans for being here in the first place; I’m sure they weren’t that worried until Duke Cyril told _everyone in Thedas_ that Orlais was taking control of the Inquisition.” Isaura sighed and her husband started to sit up. “No you don’t. You’re not squashing me and I like having you this close,” she said, keeping her arms around him. He subsided and she kissed his neck. “Much better.”

He chuckled. “No more politics tonight, Isaura. Remember: you’re just you and I’m just me.”

“Right. I have to say I kind of want to announce our marriage on the way out just to watch the hopes and dreams of some seriously dense women get crushed underfoot.” She laughed at his expression. “That’s not politics, _‘ma’lath_. That’s just me.”

“Oh, I know,” he said, kissing her again. “I’m just glad you’re on my side, dearest wife. You’d be moderately terrifying if you were not.”

“When would I ever not be on your side?” she asked, running soft fingers down his back. “I told you, Cullen: I’ve been in love with you since Haven.”

“True,” he agreed to the first part. “I’m glad things worked out how they did, actually. Well, apart from the fact that yes, I probably should have asked you to marry me sooner. There was just never time before.”

Isaura laughed. “And we have time now?”

“Tired of waiting,” he replied, kissing her. “Besides, it looks like the Inquisition is changing, whatever you decide. I wanted to move forward with our relationship as well.”

“I’m not complaining about any of it,” she said. “Well, everything is getting sticky, but that happened before we got married, too.”

Cullen chuckled. “There’s a lovely warm bath waiting for us, if we move the candles,” he pointed out. “We should go use it.” Standing, he helped her to her feet. Leading her by both hands into the bathroom, they went to the bathtub, removing the candles, blowing them out and setting them aside. Cullen entered the water first, and his breath caught as his beautiful wife slowly descended into the water, rose petals clinging to her skin. “I still have to say I’m lucky, dearest love,” he said softly, stroking a lock of hair back from her face. “I had always thought that love at first sight was a child’s tale before.”

Isaura smiled and picked up a sponge, washing her husband’s chest slowly and watching his eyes slowly close as he enjoyed her hands. “So did I, _‘ma’sa’lath_. I’m glad we were both wrong.”

“You realize you’re going to have to tell me what all of that means, right?” he teased, opening his eyes again, the warm golden brown throwing sparks back from the candlelight. “I mean, I can guess, but I’d still like to know.”

Isaura chuckled. “That just means ‘my one love.’ Want to make sure I’m not calling you anything mean, Cullen?”

“I want to know more about your language and your gods,” he said unexpectedly. “Obviously you don’t have to tell me _everything_ , but you still believe in all of it, even after all of this, so it’s clearly important to you.” He kissed her. “What’s important to you is important to me, Isaura.”

Her eyes filled, and he pulled her close. “I’ll write it all down for you, _‘ma’sal’shiral_ ,” she promised, adding “That one means ‘my soul’s journey.’”

“I like that,” he said. “I don’t have anything nearly that fancy to call you, my heart.”

“I like ‘wife,’ personally,” she replied, kissing him. “I’ll tell you more later; you have worn me out, ‘ _ma’lath._ ”

“I know that one,” he said with a smile.

“I should hope so,” she said, and he laughed. “ _Ar lath ma_ , _emma vhenan_.”

“I love you too, my heart,” Cullen said, kissing her whole face. Then, carefully imitating her cadence, he added, “ _Ar lath ma_ ,” making her light up. “I won’t get you in trouble for you teaching me, will I?”

“Of course not; you’re my husband,” she scoffed. Softly, she added, “You’re my family now, _ma’sa’lath_. You and these siblings of yours I’ve yet to meet.”

“Good, because I want to know _everything_ about you. Something is probably going to go terribly wrong while we’re here; it always does, so I want you to tell me something new every night, all right?”

“Didn’t you bet Sera a tenner that it wouldn’t?” Isaura teased, and Cullen laughed.

“Hey, someone had to take the bet to make her feel superior. Otherwise she’d have found something else to keep entertained,” he pointed out, and Isaura grinned.

“The water’s getting cold,” she said, moving close to him again. “Now that we’re no longer sticky, we should at least _open_ the champagne from Charter.”

Cullen chuckled. “I was going to have strawberries and champagne for breakfast, actually. Runner promised no one would come and get us before noon.”

“Ooh, that sounds better, yes,” Isaura replied, shivering. “The nice, warm bed is sounding appealing right this minute.”

Cullen scooped her up and carried her out of the water. Handing her a towel, he dried himself off as well. Isaura was watching him fondly and he said, “What?”

“You know, Varric doesn’t believe me when I tell him I’ve never seen you do anything special with your hair,” the Inquisitor said, walking over and smoothing back several wayward curls.

“It got straighter as it grew out,” he replied with a laugh. “Lighter, too. No idea why.”

“The things you’ve seen, it’s surprising it isn’t all gray,” she murmured, smoothing more hair down and then kissing him.

He chuckled and tugged one of her curly locks. “Yours, too, love. At least I’ve never been in the Fade. At least it’s almost over.”

She sighed and laid her head on his chest. “Please Sylaise, let it almost be over,” she murmured, and then yelped softly in surprise as her husband picked her up again.

“Enough. What did I say about serious talk?” he scolded, and she laughed. “No talking about work for the rest of the night. That’s an order.”

Isaura laughed harder, saying, “Oh, dear, what have I done to you? I remember having to nag you into stopping long enough to eat when we first got to Skyhold. I don’t think you slept until we’d gotten the Great Hall cleaned out.”

Cullen set her down on the bed and kissed her deeply. “And yet I always stopped working when a pretty elf mage came out to talk to me,” he said, nibbling at her lips and taking her breasts in his hands. “Even before you started trying to seduce me.”

Isaura laughed and ran her hands up his chest as well. “Unsuccessfully, I might add. Not that I’m complaining about how it worked out.”

Cullen kissed her again. "I wanted to be sure that I was through the worst of the lyrium madness before I did anything more than kiss you," he said, nudging her further into the bed. "I knew early on that this was serious and I didn't want it to be tainted with my weakness." He kissed her again before she could protest the phrasing. "I'm just telling you what I was thinking at the time, sweetheart. I'm not sorry we waited; on top of you being my dearest love, we're also friends."

Isaura laughed. "As I said, I can't complain about how it all turned out. If it had been up to me, I would have kissed you before facing Corypheus that first time in Haven."

Cullen chuckled. "If we hadn't been surrounded and I had known how welcome it would be, I would have kissed you for luck right there, yes." He hugged her, feeling their skin touching along the entire length of his wife's body. "I love you so much, Isaura. This is truly the best day of my life."

Isaura kissed him, his chest, his throat, his mouth. "I love you too, Cullen. You are the absolute best thing to ever happen to me. Never forget that." She gave him a wicked grin, sliding feather-light fingers down his torso. "I'm nowhere near tired enough to sleep, _'ma'sa'lath_. We still have quite a lot of night left."


	2. Post-Trauma

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Here's the serious bit. Still smutty, I feel the need to mention.

"Here you are," Cullen said, finding his wife standing by the fountain that had her name on it. She was tracing the “I” in “Inquisitor” over and over again with her index finger, and she started as he spoke. "I would have thought you'd be asleep by now. You've had a long day. Why don’t you head to bed, Inquisitor?"

That was an understatement, but he didn't want to elaborate where someone might hear them. What he wanted was for Isaura to come inside where he could hold her. What he _really_ wanted was never to let go of her again.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~**~*~*~*~*

Cassandra had been carrying the Inquisitor when they had emerged from the eluvian, and for one heart-stopping moment, Cullen had thought she was dead. Her normally warm brown skin was ashen, and she was covered in blood, quite a bit of it her own. When she opened her bright green eyes to look at him, his relief was so great that the fact that she'd lost her left arm hardly registered, until he reached out for her and she tried to reach back. He hadn't hesitated, though she had, taking her from Cassandra and reminding himself not to squeeze too hard. “It’s all right, Isaura,” he murmured, cradling her carefully against his chest as she shivered. “You’re all right now, I promise.”

It was from his arms that she stammered out her account of the confrontation with the elf they knew as Solas. The threat to the Exalted Council and the rulers of southern Thedas was over, but what could they do against someone powerful enough to create the Veil? Isaura said, "When he first came to us, Solas saw us as animals, at best. He told me that I had changed his mind. We might be able to sway him again; 'a number of years' is hardly specific, especially since he's immortal."

"An unknown timeline to defeat someone who makes Corypheus look like a child playing with matches," Leliana sighed. "We never do anything the easy way, do we?"

"At least now you can convince the Exalted Council that the Inquisition is still necessary," Cassandra said, but Isaura shook her head. Cullen felt her trembling in his arms, and pulled her closer. "Isaura?" The Divine’s voice was gentle.

"We can't just keep going like nothing happened. Between the Qunari and Fen'Harel, I know I can trust you here, the rest of our companions, and a handful of others." She shook her head again, voice steadier. "Besides, the world is a chaotic place. If we keep using that chaos as an excuse to keep the boot over Thedas's neck, we become no better than our enemies think we are."

Cassandra and Leliana exchanged looks, but Josephine nodded in understanding. “You need rest,” the ambassador said. “From what you have said, you’ve had a very full night.”

“What time is it now, anyway?” Isaura said, closing her eyes and leaning on Cullen. When she was told that it was mid-morning, though, she sat back up. “No. The last time we held news back, it backfired spectacularly; let’s get this over with now.”

“You at least need a meal and a bath,” Cullen said quietly. “The Exalted Council can wait; I think now, of all times, you can stop moving for a bloody hour or two.” Despite the gravity of the situation, Leliana chuckled. “What?”

“Commander Overwork is telling someone to take it easy?” the spymaster teased. “Now we know it is love.”

Isaura actually laughed at that, shaky but genuine. “He takes very good care of me, actually,” she said, and Cullen gave into the need to kiss her. What was left of her left arm was tucked into his side, so she stroked his face easily with her right hand. “Well, I probably shouldn’t show up half-dead in my armor anyway. I’ve done enough to disgrace the Inquisition,” the Inquisitor sighed. When voices raised in protest, she added, cutting through the chatter, “I _will_ need a hand, though.”

Everyone stared at her in shock except Bull and Varric, who both laughed. “Oh, _there_ you are, Isaura,” the dwarf said. “I was starting to worry that we’d lost the real Inquisitor somewhere along the way.” He winked and added, “I’m sure Curly can help you get out of your clothes; he has plenty of experience by now.”

Cullen knew he’d turned bright red; as he tried to form an appropriate response, he saw Leliana’s lips compress and Josephine looking regretful. “Still?” Isaura snapped, seeing it as well. “He is my _husband_.”

“Most of these people still do not know that,” Leliana replied. “We agreed it should stay quiet until we returned to Skyhold,” she said. She smiled faintly. “We wouldn’t want to deprive the Orlesians of _all_ their hopes in one day.”

Josephine added, much more gently, “As capable as the commander is, I do not think he can get your hair into some semblance of normalcy anyway, and I can. I will help you.” She reached out to touch the mostly-undone red tangle. “It will be a chore, even with help.”

“Can I at least carry her to her rooms?” Cullen asked, trying not to sound forlorn. He knew he’d failed when Isaura stroked his cheek again. She also snuggled into him, making her own preference clear.

Josephine smiled. “Of course! Obviously the Iron Bull has something important to go attend to…”

Bull laughed. “As a matter of fact, I am going to go get completely trashed. This is _very_ important, considering all the shit that just went down. C’mon, Varric; you never told me what that last spider was about.” He hugged Isaura, wrapping Cullen up as well. “See ya, Boss.” He and Varric were arguing about “giant fucking Fade spiders” as they left, leaving Isaura with the four people in Thedas she was closest to.

“I must go back to being Divine Victoria, so I cannot do it,” Cassandra said with a smile for her friends. “But I _will_ accompany you as far as I am able, to prevent anyone from harassing you.”

“I hope this doesn’t make your job harder,” Isaura said. “It’s just… it’s time, Cassandra. Everyone has lives to get back to, and we promised we would be done once the Breach was closed; that was two years ago.”

Cullen stood, bringing his wife up with him, cradling her against his chest. “You should at least have a nap,” he grumbled softly to her as they ventured out of the room with the eluvian.

“Walk slowly, and I will have a small one,” she replied with a tired smile. Leliana found them a clear path, and Cullen carried Isaura as steadily as he dared. Not only was he trying to keep from jarring her, he didn’t want to ever put her down. She did drift off a bit, snuggled close to his chest as she was. He was glad he was in his uniform instead of his armor, because he could feel her breathing against his chest.

When they reached the Inquisitor’s guest suite, Josie closed the door very firmly on the small following they’d attracted despite Leliana’s efforts, leaving Divine Victoria to explain. The moment the door was shut, Cullen set Isaura down so he could kiss her again, burying his hands in her hair. “I have stopped keeping count of the times when I have almost lost you,” he said, voice trembling. “You’d think I would be used to it by now.”

Isaura reached for him again, and then looked down at what was left of her arm. “Dammit. I’ll probably do that for a while, sorry.”

Cullen tilted her chin up to face him again. “Compared to what could have happened… what almost _did_ happen, the arm is not so bad. We’ll adjust.”

Josephine said, “Dagna will undoubtedly rise to the challenge of making you a new hand. It will keep her amused and out of trouble.”

“Until we find out the new hand can shoot jets of fire or lyrium crystals at people,” Isaura said dryly, and the other two laughed. “It’s just…” she sighed. “Nothing. You’re right; the hand is nothing compared to what could have happened.” She kissed her husband. “You should probably go so I can get my bath.”

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~**~*~*~*~*

That had been the last time Cullen had touched his wife today, and his hands trembled as they stood by the fountain. "Isaura?" he said, pitching his voice so that the fountain covered it. "Come to bed, love."

The elf turned, and Cullen was moving towards her before his conscious brain registered the tear streaks on her face. No longer caring about watchers, he wiped the tears away. "I'm sorry," she said softly, burying her head in his chest. "Oh, Cullen I'm so sorry."

"Why? Because of this?" he asked, stroking her left shoulder. "Isaura, this was never your fault. The fault lies with the person who put the mark on your hand in the first place."

"I... I don't know how much time we have left, or if losing my hand made any difference at all," she said. “He was very definite on the fact that the Anchor was killing me.”

"My love, even if we were as immortal as the ancient elves, it would still never be enough time. I can only hope that we share the same afterlife as well." Cullen wrapped his arms around his wife, kissing her hair. "I want to spend all of eternity with you. That has been true forever. I'm going to treasure every single instant I have with you because we’ve never had any idea how long we’ll get to spend together.  This is no different."

Isaura smiled at him. "How do you always know what to say to make me feel better?"

"I'm your husband, my heart. It's my job. Come inside, Isaura. I have barely seen you since you got back and I'm kidnapping you for the night." Taking her hand, Cullen tugged at his wife until she followed him. Instead of going to the Inquisitorial suite, Cullen led Isaura down the halls to a different door, in a quiet corner of the Winter Palace.

"This seems familiar," Isaura said with a smile, and Cullen pulled her against his right side as he opened the door to the rooms where they had spent their wedding night. "You kept the key, then?"

"Of course. They can make another one or change the lock; I'm going keep this one forever." He smiled at her. "For luck, since someone very important to me has my old good luck charm."

The room was much as they'd left it last time, but instead of champagne and roses in the parlor, there was a large dog, gray with white spots, sleeping on the sofa. Isaura giggled at the exasperated expression on her husband's face. "I take it you didn't let him in here?" she said.

Cullen sighed, though he was smiling as well. "No, I did not. Charter must have; maybe she thought he’d be worried about you.” To the dog he said, “Get off of there, you furball! You know you're not allowed on the furniture."

The mabari that Cullen had befriended yawned and stretched ostentatiously on the sofa before coming to greet them. "You're going to have to train him if you want to keep the dog," Isaura said, serious tone belied by the fact that she was scratching the dog's ears and grinning. "Also, you need to name him; 'You There' is not actually a name.” The dog wagged his entire rear end and whined when the Inquisitor stopped scratching him.

Cullen laughed. "You can name him then, my heart. I'm terrible with names." He looked around. "Oh, good. They at least brought his crate as well."

The mabari gave Isaura a mournful look and whined again, but the mage laughed. "Sorry, boy. The bed is just for the two of us."

""In you get, my lad," Cullen said with a grin. “I can see that someone has drawn a bath for my beautiful wife and me and it's getting cold." After kenneling the dog, he turned to his wife.

Isaura was trying to unbutton her coat, clearly frustrated. "I enjoy undressing you anyway," Cullen pointed out, doing so with gentle hands. "We'll make sure you have things that are easier to get in and out of from now on."

Isaura sighed. "I apologize right now for all the extra trouble--" Cullen cut her off with a kiss.

"Isaura. We will get used to this. Be patient with yourself, my love. You're tired and stressed out, which makes it even harder to do anything than it already is." He took off the coat and unbuckled Isaura's belt. "This is new to both of us, but the important thing is that you are alive and here with me."

"I loved taking _your_ clothes off," she said around a sob. "Dammit, Cullen, I want to touch you."

"You still have your other hand, dearest love. Touch me all you want to." He smiled at her, wiping away her tears again. "You still have your wicked, beautiful mouth as well. We can improvise."

As he got her clothes off, Cullen had to fight against a surge of fury at the mage they had known as Solas; Isaura's body was battered and bruised, with the almost unscarred stump of her arm a frightening counterpoint. "None of it hurts too much," his wife said as she saw him looking. "I am a healer, after all; I’m mostly just sore, _‘ma’lath_ , I promise."

He took his own coat and trousers off, but left his shirt. She tugged tentatively at it, and he leaned over so she could work it off of him, using her remaining hand and her teeth. He only helped as far as was absolutely necessary, and it was easier than Isaura probably expected it to be. "All right, that was actually fun," she admitted with a smile, stroking his chest. “I think I could get used to that very easily.”

Cullen chuckled and said, "At some point, I will let you take _all_ of my clothes off with your teeth. Right now you're sore and tired, so let's get in the bath."

Before they got into the water, Cullen gave his wife's breasts their customary greeting, teasing her nipples with his fingers and tongue. Isaura buried her hand in his hair and moaned softly. "I could use a soak before we do anything exciting, _'ma'lath_ ," she said, and he chuckled and helped her into the sunken tub.

“I know that, but you know how it works, or you should by now.” Cullen washed his wife's body, ignoring her protest that she'd done it earlier. "This seems like the best way right now to reassure myself that you're really here," he said, kissing the back of her neck. "You usually don't complain about me putting my hands all over you."

Isaura laughed and returned the favor, her hand working with a sponge on his back; she was tentative at first, but started scrubbing with enthusiasm when he leaned into it and made soft noises of contentment. "Oh, Cullen," she said softly, dropping the sponge and stroking the muscles of his shoulders. "You're so taut through here, _'ma'sa'lath._ "

He was never anything other than honest with her, and now was not the time to start lying. "I am _very_ angry, my heart," he said softly. "Not so much about your arm as much as at the mind behind it. I have never seen you so hurt before, Isaura. I am amazed that you didn't at least take a swing at that two-faced bastard."

"I thought about it," she admitted, fingers working on his tense muscles. Even one-handed, it felt wonderful, and he made himself relax and enjoy it. "But I decided it would have been suicidal, and I wanted to come back. He turned an entire Qunari squad into stone just by _looking_ at them and I was alone with him. Besides, the pain in the Anchor at that point was so bad I could barely stand."

He let her rub his shoulders in silence for a while. "Thank you for coming back, my love,” he said finally. “I don't have to tell you how badly I would have taken it if you hadn't."

"Like Harding said, I _always_ come back," she said, kissing him in between his shoulder blades. "I think I've won her more money in bets about that than we pay her by now."

Cullen turned around and pulled his wife into his arms. "Enough talking," he murmured. "There is another way that I can reassure myself that you are really here."

Isaura laughed and teased, "A game of chess?" She made a soft noise in the back of her throat when her husband took her breasts in his hands again.

He was far more gentle than usual, and Isaura didn't protest. Cullen ran his hands down Isaura's body, feeling all of the changes in her silken skin; the curve of her hips and the perfect arc of her bottom were the same, though. He kissed her left shoulder. "I think I am going to kiss every inch of you, my heart." Instead of making a macabre remark about the arm, she nodded, eyes shining with unshed tears.

Cullen pulled the plug in the tub and wrapped a towel around his tired, beautiful wife. He picked her up and carried her into the bedroom, laying her down on the bed where they had spent their wedding night, not quite a week ago. Unwrapping the towel, he started his journey across her body, beginning with the tips of her ears, which made her shiver. He kissed her ears, first one and then the other, sucking on her earlobes to make her moan. He’d actually discovered how sensitive her ears were after she’d done the same to him first.

Returning to her face, Cullen kissed Isaura's forehead and her eyes, kissing down her nose to the tip and kissing each of her high, angular cheeks. He lingered on her mouth, first nibbling on her full, sweet lips, and then claiming her whole mouth with his. He placed a gentle kiss on the _vallaslin_ under her mouth and then worked his way up her jawline on both sides, just as angular as her cheekbones and just as beautiful. As he reached where her jaw met her ear, Isaura’s breath caught. Cullen nipped her earlobe again.

Isaura held very still, and Cullen knew she was regretting not being able to touch him with both hands. Instead of saying anything, he continued down her throat, leaving a mark in the hollow that would probably still be visible tomorrow. He couldn’t think of any words to say that wouldn’t sound false, so he tried to show her with his mouth that it was still all right.

Cullen didn't hesitate as he moved lower, kissing along her collarbone to her right shoulder. Isaura's arm was trembling, and Cullen's kisses were gentle as he worked his way to her hand, unclenching her fingers so he could kiss her palm and suck on her fingers. Isaura cupped his face briefly, but didn’t try to stop him as he kissed his way back up her arm. He stroked her hand to keep her from clenching her fist again, and their fingers entwined.

Isaura's breathing was harsh as her husband kissed his way back to her collarbone, and he squeezed her hand gently before moving on to her left shoulder. Cullen kept up with the same steady rhythm of kisses that he'd used on her other arm, feeling the skin and muscle under his lips shivering. He explored the remaining area gently. The arm merely ended just above where her elbow should have been; it was as if there had never been anything else there. There was scarring, but he recognized quite a bit of it as being from the increasing damage the Anchor had been doing before its dramatic removal. Isaura's hand had released his and was in his hair again, though he couldn't tell if she was trying to get him to stop or encouraging him.

He moved back up to her chest again, fully prepared to move on to the rest of her body, but Isaura tugged on his shoulder, pulling him close. She was crying, body shaking with the sobs, and he immediately wrapped her up in his arms, stroking her hair and kissing her forehead. "I wasn't finished," he murmured.

"You can finish in a bit," she promised, voice shaking. "Cullen..."

"I love every single bit of you," he said. "Isaura, you have earned every one of these scars, and they are beautiful because they are on _your_ body. You aren't the slightest bit put off by my scars; why should I be bothered by yours?" He kissed her again and added, "This isn't the way I would have chosen to get rid of the damn Anchor, but I am glad it's gone.” He ducked his head and kissed the hollow of her throat again. “Now, if you don’t mind, there’s still a great deal of skin I haven’t kissed yet, and I haven’t even gotten to my favorite parts yet.”

Isaura pulled his head up again and kissed him hard on the mouth. “Do not _ever_ say that you don’t deserve me again, Cullen. You are being so… so wonderful about this.”

“Isaura, _you came back_. I was even more afraid this time than I was when you went to face Corypheus, because at least with Corypheus, we had some idea of what we were dealing with. The hand will be difficult to adjust to, but having the rest of you here is well worth it.” He smiled and kissed her again. “Besides, Dagna does love a challenge.”

“Including trying to re-create the Anchor,” Isaura said dryly. “I don’t think she’ll give up even if I tell her it was basically a god that gave it to me in the first place.”

“Can I kiss your breasts now?” Cullen asked, and Isaura laughed and let go of him. “I am going to make love to you if we have to stay in this room all week, my heart. Since I think they’re planning on kicking us out as soon as they can, you should probably let me get on with it.”

Isaura laughed again. “Are you seriously going to kiss my entire body? Even my feet?”

“Even your feet,” he confirmed, kissing her collarbone yet again. “Your feet carried you here, didn’t they? I love your feet.”

“Technically a very large stag carried me—oh!” Cullen decided she was having too much fun at his expense, and instead of just kissing her breasts, sucked on the top of the left one hard enough to leave a mark. Isaura moaned as he kissed his way over her sternum to the other breast, where he sucked again, this time on the bottom of the breast. “If you don’t stop that, you’re not going to make it much lower,” Isaura said with a sensual growl, and Cullen laughed against her ribcage. Despite her threats, Isaura merely moaned again as he continued down her chest to her belly, sliding his tongue in her navel and making her arch into him again.

Cullen focused on the sensations he was giving his wife and the wonderful noises she was making to keep the rage from building up again; there were a _lot_ of new scars, and she was bruised all over. He kept his mouth gentle, but not so gentle that it tickled; he had perfected this pressure by now, and was grateful for it, even as he hated the fact that he was used to kissing her around injuries. Isaura was writhing underneath him as he worked his way down to the burgundy curls that marked her pubic mound. Then he took a left turn, and she growled at him again. He laughed, the vibration against her hip making Isaura rise up again. “If I go there so soon, my love, I will never finish your legs. Be patient.”

“I would much rather have you kissing me _there_ than on my legs anyway, and I am not a very patient person,” Isaura retorted, and then cried out as he kissed the very inside of her right thigh. “How do you _do_ that?” she said breathlessly as he continued down her leg, moving back and forth across her thigh to her knee, licking the hinge of her leg and making her cry out again.

“Practice,” he replied, moving down her shin to the top of her foot. “I thought you weren’t interested in me kissing your feet, my love?” he teased as he had to hold her leg down to kiss her ankle. “You seem to like this.”

“My _foot_ ,” she said with a sigh that was half pleasure and half exasperation. “My ears, my shoulders, and my _foot_ , Cullen?”

“Think of all the fun new things you’re learning about your body,” he said, kissing her sole and each of her toes gently before moving to her other foot. “Look, it’s _both_ feet. Technically, it’s your ankles, actually; perhaps you just have sensitive joints.” This was said between kisses as he moved up her left leg, moving his head when he found a spot on her knee that made her almost kick him. “Did I tickle?” He knew he probably hadn’t, but he didn’t want to tease her into actual annoyance, and she was tired enough that it wouldn’t take much.

“I—a bit,” she said, voice hoarse. “How long are you going to keep tormenting me like this? You could always do the other side later.”

Cullen chuckled. “You’re enjoying every moment of this, Isaura; you’re not fooling me. Let me have my fun, love. We’ve had so few nights where I could take my time.”

She sighed, and he heard the contentment under the false annoyance. “Whatever you say, dear.” She bit her lip when he reached the inside of her thigh again and bit down very lightly. “Tease.”

“Always,” he replied with another soft laugh, the vibrations rumbling close enough to the part of her where she wanted him that she shook briefly. “Was that what it felt like, my heart? Because you’re _never_ going to convince me you’re not enjoying this if it was.”

“Shut up,” she replied, and he laughed, a full laugh this time that made her reach for him. This time, there was less hesitation as she corrected the movement with her left arm to her right, running her fingers through his hair. “I love you.”

“I love you, too.” Kissing her hip, Cullen said, “Roll over.”

“Oh, come on,” she said. “You know how eager I am right now; do you want to let it go to waste?

“Oh it won’t,” he laughed again, sitting up. “Roll over now, or I’ll kiss each individual strand of hair as well.”

“You would, too,” Isaura grumbled. She rolled carefully; as much as he wanted to help, Cullen knew she wouldn’t appreciate it, so he let her make her laborious way onto her stomach on her own. He enjoyed watching the play of muscles across her body as she compensated for not having both hands to flip her body. She noticed him watching, too; instead of simply pushing off with her hands, she used her legs as well, sliding them across his with slow, deliberate ease. “Enjoying the view?” she said, and he stroked her back, unable to speak for a moment. “Oh, you are. Good.” She winked as she settled herself, both arms above her head. “Maybe you can just take me like this. We’d both have fun with that, and _then_ you could continue your game.”

“Isaura, you’re not going to talk me into skipping any of this,” her husband replied, moving her hair so he could kiss the top of her neck. “I have wanted to kiss you like this for _ages_.” He ran his tongue behind her ear before she could reply, getting her to gasp. “Don’t say it. It’s just as wonderful as I imagined; your skin is delicious.”

Being Isaura, she said it anyway as soon as she got her breath back. “You have about two feet of skin less to kiss now.”

“Which I am _quite_ annoyed by, yes. I would have skipped kissing the mark on your hand anyway; I _hated_ how it felt.”

His wife blinked at the vehemence in his voice. “You really did hate the Anchor, didn’t you?”

“It was killing you, Isaura. How could I not?” Before she could protest that he didn’t know that at the time, Cullen kissed the base of her neck and said, “Trust me, my love. Those last several months, anyone could tell that the thing was getting worse again. Even if I hadn’t known it was hurting you, it wasn’t _you_. It represented everything that kept taking you away from me.”

“So you got mad at the mark instead of getting mad at me for leaving?” Isaura said, and then hissed in as Cullen found a particularly livid bruise on her shoulder blade.

“What kind of hypocrite would I be if I got angry at you for doing your job, love?” he said, being extra careful along her back. “I’m going to annoy you further, my heart,” he said with a sigh, sitting up. “You’re in knots, and my hands will do more good than my mouth.”

“How does this annoy me?” the elf asked, then moaned softly as he started rubbing her neck.

“Because I’m going right back where I left off with my mouth as soon as I’m done,” he replied with a chuckle as she sighed. Resting all of his weight on his knees, Cullen separated the knots of tension from the bruises by touch, varying between feather-light and firm strokes as he eliminated the former. “I didn’t dislike the Anchor because you kept leaving, Isaura,” he grunted working on a particularly stubborn knot. “I hated it because it gave you nightmares, it hurt you, and you kept getting involved in the worst trouble because of it.” She wiggled her rear underneath him, and he laughed. “You’re really not going to convince me to stop kissing you. Have you ever known me to be less than a man of my word, dear wife?”

“No,” she admitted with a smile. “Even when you doubted it yourself.”

“Which is why we’re here and I’m driving you crazy,” he said, running his palms over her back to see if he’d missed any major knots. “You have only yourself to blame.”

Isaura laughed and said, “If I had known you’d be so maddening, _‘ma’sal’shiral…_ ” she trailed off, thinking about the last three years. “I would have done almost all of it anyway. You are the best thing to ever happen to me, Cullen.”

“Good, because you are the same thing for me,” he said, shifting so he could kiss between her shoulder blades. “I _will_ speed up, if you would like.”

“Compromise!” Isaura said with another laugh; either getting the knots out of her back had improved her mood or she was worried that he thought she wasn’t enjoying this. Either way, she made soft noises of pleasure as Cullen kissed across her back. “Are you going to--?”

“Of course,” he said, kissing his way back to her left shoulder. “I wouldn’t want the backs of your arms to feel left out.”

“You’re just trying to make me feel grateful that there’s less for you to tease me with,” she said, the dark humor coming out again. It _was_ humor this time, like it had been that morning, and Cullen chuckled. “Interesting therapy method you have, _‘ma’lath._ ”

“I use the skills I have at my disposal,” he replied as he kissed the back of her left arm. She was trembling again, but she made a soft noise that was not pain, either mental or physical, when he nibbled his way back along her left shoulder. “Sensitive joints,” he murmured, pulling her right arm down gently so he could give it the same treatment.

“Oh, now you’re being cruel to both of us,” Isaura said with a breathless laugh as Cullen made his steady way down to her hips and gently kissed her rear. In response to her words, he sucked on one cheek, and Isaura moaned. “Oh, for the love of… Cullen, please kiss me faster. I would like you inside of me sooner rather than later.”

He laughed, and Isaura realized the sensation of him laughing against her skin was _just_ as intense from the rear as he made his way down to the back of her left thigh. “You are a bit damp down here, beloved.” He did as she directed, though, and not just because she’d asked him to. Feeling even these small peaks was making him impatient as well. He still made sure to kiss every bit of her legs, down to the heels of her feet, and he lingered on her rear again when he was finished. “Roll over again, Isaura,” Cullen told his wife softly as he sat up, and she rotated, much more quickly this time. He noticed with amusement that she moved a lot more surely when she wasn’t thinking about what she was doing.

Before she could order him to take her, he bent and closed his mouth over her clitoris, and Isaura shrieked, coming hard at the feeling of his mouth where she’d wanted it since he’d started kissing her. Cullen chuckled and ran his tongue over her outer lips, sliding it into her and making her whimper as he felt the orgasm continue around his mouth. “Oh… oh, Cullen,” Isaura said, her hips shaking. “You’re done kissing me. Get up here and take me.”

“Of course,” he said, and sat up. Isaura wrapped her legs around his hips but let him position both of their bodies so he was over her. She stroked his face with her hand, and then pulled his head down for a kiss as he entered her. He felt her buck her hips up underneath him, taking him in entirely, and moaned into her mouth. “Oh, my love, this will not take long,” he said, thrusting slowly as he gloried in the feeling of her wrapped around him. He did miss having both of her arms holding him closely, but it was enough to have her here under him, around him. Her legs gripped him as she arched into his thrusts, making sure he went into her all the way to the root and gripping him with her internal muscles.

Cullen got three or four good thrusts in, but then he was coming hard enough that lights flashed behind his eyes. Isaura, feeling him filling her, came again as well, her walls pulsing against his softening cock. “You were right,” she murmured as he collapsed on top of her, panting. Most of his weight was on his knees and forearms, but he covered her with his body, feeling her sweaty skin against his and drinking in the sensation. “That didn’t take long.”

“Of course it didn’t,” he said, rolling and pulling her to his chest. “It rarely does once I get inside you; why do you think I lingered so long in kissing you?”

Isaura laughed, stroking his chest with her fingers. They were both soaked in sweat, and Cullen knew they should probably get up and at least rinse off before everything got very sticky, but he wasn’t sure he could stand. “Nice to know you find tormenting me arousing,” the mage said. “I always thought you did, since it took you so long to seduce me the first time.”

“I wanted to be sure it was the right time,” he said, kissing her forehead. “I don’t regret being patient; you made it well worth it once I made my move.”

“You took me _on your desk_ ,” Isaura laughed. “How is that being patient?”

“You didn’t complain,” he replied with a smile, stroking back an errant lock of hair. Unbound, Isaura’s hair was everywhere, and he knew they’d have to brush it out properly before they went to sleep. “You made a whole lot of noises, and not one was a complaint.”

Isaura laughed again and poked him in the ribs. “I was a bit too busy being completely swept off my feet by a man who wanted me badly enough to stop in the middle of giving orders to throw everyone out and take me right then and there.” She kissed his chest, biting his nipple lightly just to give him goosebumps. “Can you blame a girl for being turned on?” She gave a shudder that was only partly theatrical.

“You do like it when I’m…” he searched for the word.

Isaura supplied with an impish smile, “Commanding?” and Cullen laughed. Isaura stretched against him, the movement so natural and effortless that Cullen watched her. “Look at you,” his wife said with affection. “It’s impressive you ever get anything else done with me around, you enjoy staring so much.”

“It helps that you wear clothes while we’re working,” he replied and she laughed again. “We should probably get cleaned up and get some sleep, my love. I’m pretty sure the Orlesians are planning on kicking us out of the Winter Palace again as soon as they possibly can.” He kissed her and added, “I’m ready to go home anyway.”

“Skyhold will seem awfully empty once everyone’s gone,” she said with a sigh as they stood up. Cullen decided she could be independent when he wasn’t standing right there and lifted her to her feet, which earned him a smile. “I’m not sure… Solas found it. He knew where it was.”

“It’s _still_ home,” Cullen pointed out, washing her and letting her wash him. He paused and closed his eyes as she teased his thighs, then continued, “You made it yours the instant you stepped into the Great Hall, and then you made it home for the rest of us.”

“ _Haven_ was home,” Isaura said quietly. “I knew everyone in Haven personally.” They were done cleaning off and she was staring at the vanity, where her hairbrush sat. Cullen picked it up and started brushing her hair. “Cullen.”

“I have two sisters; you think this is the first time I’ve done this?” he said in amusement. More softly, he added, “I know it hurts that we had so many spies, love; I feel it, too. But I promise you that it was a small fraction of the Inquisition as a whole.”

“Just _most_ of the elves,” Isaura said bitterly, running a habitual thumb over the heart-shaped swirl under her lips. “I think I can count on my single hand how many elves _weren’t_ part of one side or the other.” Cullen kept brushing, pulling the strands back from her ears and running a hand along one ear gently, stroking the pointed tip with his fingers. “Ironically, it’s their willingness to do what Solas told them to that makes me agree with what he originally told me about the Dalish. I’ll bet you if he had told them he was Fen’Harel, they would be smug that they were right about their gods existing. I certainly was when we met Mythal.”

“Considering most of your cultural history revolves around your people fighting most of the rest of Thedas while they held to those beliefs, I can’t really blame any of you,” he said as he undid a tangle gently with his fingers. “I doubt Solas told them any of what he actually had planned; even if it wasn’t entirely counter to his nature to do so, it would have defeated the purpose.” Cullen separated his wife’s hair into sections carefully. “Josie was wrong, by the way. I could have actually at least made you look presentable earlier, as long as you don’t mind simple.”

Isaura laughed, the lines clearing from her face as her husband braided her hair. “You could have said something.”

“They wanted to give you time to gather yourself, and I was apparently not helping. I didn’t want to argue. Arguing with Josephine rarely works anyway.” The braid was tight, but not uncomfortable, and he tied it off. “I _wasn’t_ helping, dear one. I was hovering, which drives you mad at the best of times, much less this morning.”

His wife smiled as she stood and held out her hand to him. "Let's go back to bed, _'ma’sa’lath._ I have had the longest day of my life, and I need to sleep in my husband's arms now."

He scooped her up, carrying her to bed like he had on their wedding night. "What a coincidence. I need to feel my beautiful wife sleeping in my arms right now." He laid her in the bed, extinguishing most of the lights before joining her, though he left one lamp burning so he could see her. This done, Cullen joined his wife in the bed. "I wonder if they'd let us buy this bed?" he mused as she cuddled against him. "I have to admit I've gotten rather attached to it."

Isaura chuckled, but she sounded so tired and sad that Cullen's arms around her tightened protectively. "You like my--our bed at home."

"Hmm yes, but we spent our wedding night in this bed." He kissed her hair. "I'll mention it to Josephine." He closed his eyes after making sure she was doing the same.

"Are we sure we got all the spies?" Isaura whispered, and Cullen's heart clenched. Her voice was hoarse with exhaustion and fear, and when he opened his eyes, he saw that hers were wide and staring, the green reflecting the low light oddly. Cullen pulled her closer still, and her trembling slowly died down again.

"Leliana says we did, and she was certainly angry enough to find every single one personally. Charter was as well. I hope you had Charter on one of those fingers, dearest; she's no more a spy than Harding is."

Isaura sighed. "Charter, Runner, and Sera for sure. Not sure who else. Maybe that sweet lad from the Exalted Plains. He's not nearly good enough at hiding his reactions to be a spy."

Cullen laughed softly. "Sera is probably a combination of smug that she was right about elves and furious about the others who were working for the Qunari," he said. "Runner is also undoubtedly standing watch, by the way, so you might as well get some rest. I could also let the dog out; fat chance anyone's getting past a mabari."

"I know you will never let anyone hurt me here," Isaura replied, and Cullen kissed her to chase away the anxiety and guilt in her face. "It's just..."

"It's like it was after Haven again," he supplied. "You know you're safe in your head but your gut doesn't want to relax. I'm not offended, beloved, because I know you're worried about something happening to me as well." She sighed and he added, "Isaura. That's what mabari are _for_ ; I can't promise the spoiled monster won't try to get in bed with us, but if he makes you feel safer, I will put up with dog breath in the morning."

She laughed. "Remind me to thank Charter for leaving him here with us in the first place, then. If you're sure you don't mind..." She whispered, "Fen'Harel is supposed to be wary of good hounds."

Cullen kissed his wife and stood up. Seeing her anxious eyes, he picked up his sword as well. "I'll be right back, probably with the droolly beast in tow."

He returned without the dog. "I think he prefers the sofa," the man said with a chuckle as he set his sword back down. “We’re _not_ buying the sofa.”

"Or he knows we're depending on him to stand guard," Isaura replied. "Mabari are supposed to be very smart dogs.”

"That's probably it," Cullen agreed. "He's certainly more watchful than he was earlier."

Isaura kissed her husband. "Thank you. I'm probably being foolish."

"You told me to train the dog," he replied with a smile. "Standing watch tonight is a good start." They settled back in bed, Cullen pulling Isaura as close to him as he could. "Let's get some sleep, my heart. You were exhausted before I had my wicked way with you."

Isaura sighed and let her husband stroke her back. "Good night, Cullen. I love you."

"I love you too, Isaura. Good night."

She thought he was asleep as she said, "I hope it worked."

"If it didn't, Solas had damn well better hope that he succeeds in his plan, because there won't be a place in Thedas where he can hide from me," Cullen growled without opening his eyes. He kissed his wife. "Sleep. I fully plan on having my way with you again in the morning, so you’ll want to be well-rested.”

For the first time since they’d found the first Qunari corpse, Isaura Lavellan-Rutherford relaxed fully in her husband’s arms. Whatever happened after this, she had come back to this man, and she planned on spending however much time she had left with him. As Cullen’s breathing evened out, his arms around her tightened briefly, as if he would protect her even in his dreams. Secure in the knowledge that he would, Isaura fell asleep.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading this! If you have nitpicks, please point them out. I prefer being momentarily embarrassed about it over reading it later and banging my head against the desk. :)


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